Everyone here is slowly getting better, though hubs was home sick from work again today with a high fever and other flu symptoms. I wish this flu would fly aleady!

The cat's out of the bag...we welcomed a new addition to our family this week. About a month ago on a very cold and rainy night, a little stray solid black kitten showed up at our door meowing her little head off. I brought her in and and quickly gave her much love and many cuddles while I could, because, you see, I'm allergic to cats. We placed an ad in the paper and I created a little webpage with "glamour" photos for folks to see pictures of her. I've used this method in the past when we found a pregnant stray dog roaming a busy street...After her pups were born and ready for homes, we did a little cottage pups photo shoot with them and they all found homes in a day! So, we got plenty of phone calls about our stray kitten this time around, too. Hubs made arrangements with an interested person to meet him at his office to pick up the kitten, but they flaked out and didn't show. Most of the folks hubs worked with, however, really liked the idea of having an "office" cat and took to our little stray right away. But that only worked out for a little while. The kitty would be left in the warehouse and, well, not having access to her litter box, she'd finally "go" somewhere...and some people weren't happy about that. I wasn't comfortable with the whole idea anyway, but for hubs sake (he loves cats), I didn't fuss *too* much - but I did fuss. Anyway, after a few complaints, I told him to bring the cat home and we'd place another ad. Strangely, I've had no allergic reactions to her in the week that she's been back, and goodness knows I've cuddled her to pieces. I don't know what is going on. The cat allergies seem to have disappeared as quickly as they appeared 7 years ago. Soooo... now it looks like we've been happily adopted by a bird, two dogs, and a cat. I've yet to come up with a real name for her. Hmmm...Goodness...I wish I wasn't such a softy. I told the kids that this is absolutely the last animal we will bring into the family.

I don't have anything else interesting on the housefront to write about so I thought I'd take a stroll around other cottage and country blogs to see what's going on. I hope you enjoy these links as much as I have!

At A Storybook Life, look at this fabulous *$2* cupboard that was painted a deep, rich red! This just goes to show that (1) great finds are out there (and the hunt is so much fun!) and (2)a little paint goes a long way!

Look at this darling cottage apron that Chris at Cats on My Quilt made. I've never worn an apron, but the more I see, the more I think I'd love to collect them for the charm of it:)

I just love this little powder room at Cottage Bethy's place. She recently painted it and the once gold light fixture that was in there. The fixture is now a fresh and airy white. I especially love the white mirror. Great job!

If you'd love to see a cottage bathroom in the making, please check out Cottage by the Sea. They've been working hard on their bath and it's always fun for me to see these kinds of projects come together. Someday...SOMEday, we'll be putting our bath back together, lol!

I just discovered Tiffaney's blog at Folded Gingham and love how she has redone her fireplace. She says she is "olding up" her new house (like what I'm trying to do with this relative "new" nearly 30 year old house of ours). She painted the mantel a really pretty pear green and replaced the granite tile with brick. It turned out lovely...check it out!

Well, I guess that's it for now! Gonna go check on my sick hubby!

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comments:

Ahhh Kim, you are such a good soul ~ I'm happy you were able to keep this cutie-pie kitty ~ I KNOW she must be happy too! I hope your family chases this flu away once and for all and you can finally enjoy the season. Thank you for mentioning my "shabby cabinet"! I love sharing these things with my blogging/thrifting friends! Happy New Year!xo,Kim

I suffered from terrible cat allergies for many years. Couldn't be around one of them for longer than 15 minutes without much sneezing and eye-running. But then, like you, I found a stray...and found I wasn't allergic anymore and have had cats ever since (20 years now). I've since read that female cats are less likely to cause allergies, but have heard other people argue that the opposite is true. Whatever. Happy snuggling.

My husband was terribly allergic to cats, and always has been. But he knew I loved them, and when we moved in together we tried to take my Mom's cat, Cleo, who they were getting rid of because of some "bathroom" issues. He had no problem with her! Not only that, but earlier this year we adopted another cat, and -- likewise -- he's had no problem with this one, either (with long hair, yet!)

Hey kim! I love the kitty story, I'm missing mine dreadfully:( she died a few months after moving to the country and very suddenly too:( maybe she was as depressed as I was with the move! Glad to see a new post, I'm now at typepad had to leave the unreliable blogger it works for some, but lots have trouble using it...it took me an entire week before I shook that flu bug, I'm glad to see things are starting to look up and you're feeling better...love the links to all the pretty things you posted...well happy 2007!

You know I'm a cat lover so enjoy your kitty. Thanks for the plug about my apron. I love aprons. I've also managed to make a table runner with the leftover fabric but can't seem to get the new camera I got for Christmas to share it's photos with the computer so I'm working on it. Stay tuned-photos coming soon as soon as I can find a 10 year old kid to show me how to do it with the new camera!

Sending you some get well wishes, hopefully the New Year will find you all fully recovered. Congrats on the keeping of your new kitty. My kids keep asking for one, but the 2 dogs are enough work for me right now;) And thank you so much for the nice words and link about to my blog. You are an absolute gem of a person.

Your kitty is beautiful! What curious eyes it has. I love kittens, I am not much of a cat person (cats hate my guts), but who can resist the cuteness of a kitten? Have fun with her and may she have many days filled with wraping herself in yarn and rolling in cat-nip.

Hello, everyone! Those are such interesting comments about cat allergies and I'm glad to know that it wasn't all just in my head, lol, and that allergies really can just go away - just like that!

Bev, I didn't realize that you have three kitties now! Your place must be brimming with feline entertainment...Gotta love kitties!

I think hubs is now all better - finally! Poor guy has been a lump for the last couple of weeks, and then having to work on and off. He's out with the kidlets now, taking them out to eat and to the movies. I've stayed in to enjoy some peace and quiet!

I appreciate everyone's comments and kind thoughts....I'm glad you came to visit! Thank you so much!

I'm a fairly regular reader of your blog, and just wanted to tell you that my husband had allergies to cats, but they disappeared 15 years ago and haven't returned.

Also, from the pictures, I think you might have a Burmese on your hands. My old, ancient, gone from this life Buddha cat was a Burmese, they are loving, calm, centered, intelligent cats (which is why my old kitty was nicknamed Buddha). :-)